Ratan Tata is upset with the way the department of telecommunications has allocated spectrum for mobile operators. In a missive to the Telecom Commission chairman, and then to the prime minister, he has ripped through the department's move to link spectrum allocation with technology and subscriber base.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has a new chairman in Nripendra Misra. Though a former telecom hand, having been the Telecom Commission chairman earlier, Misra would soon realise the telecom world has undergone a change since his DoT days.

Communications minister Dayanidhi Maran's 'India One' scheme has everyone excited. While the minister himself cannot stop gloating over the Re 1 per minute call from anywhere to anywhere in India, several others see it as no more than a political stunt.

Gurgaon's glitzy MG Road, also known as India's 'Mall Road' and home to scores of eateries and bars, was witness to a strange protest the other day. Panchayats of villages adjoining the stretch gathered and demanded that bars in these steel and glass structures be shut down as they were corrupting their youth.

In the late '80s, when Sam Pitroda controlled the reins of Indian telecom, there was constant talk of a new telecom policy. But once V P Singh came to power in early '90s, Sam fell out of favour and the nation blundered along without a cogent policy.